Age: 37
Hometown: Fall River, Massachusetts
Where do you now live?: East Freetown, Massachusetts
Where would you most like to live?: Anywhere on the pacific coastline of Costa Rica.
Who was your first “hero” in life?: My Uncle Louie.
What is your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: If there are waves, surf, if not, drink beer and paint.
What is your favorite color?: Today it’s red.
Who (or what) do you love?: Who: My family. What: Life.

Wooster: Who and/or what are some of your influences?

The graffiti movement of the late seventies and early eighties is probably my greatest influence. The over the top use of color and the scale of the work is something that has stayed with me. When I attended college (my first exposure to fine art)  I discovered the abstract expressionist movement, I found I had a strong connection with the artists of this movement especially with their notion of making it more about the act of painting than the painting itself. More recently the street art movement has impacted my work greatly. When I discovered Wooster Collective in 2004, I changed, and so did my work. When I began researching the artists involved with Wooster and
other urban influenced artists on the internet I was like,“Holy shit, I thought I was the only one using old school graffiti and spray paint in my studio work.” Ignorance is bliss I tell you. So, rather than naming names I truly believe every artist I have been exposed to since then has influenced my work to some degree.

Wooster: What other artists do you most admire?

I admire any artist that dedicates their life to creating, from the many successful urban influenced gallery artists to the 15 year old kid bombing his neighborhood with stickers he stole from the post office.

Wooster: How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

Imagine there is a man in a canvas walled room. Loud music begins to play which makes the man act a fool. He begins running around exploding spray paint cans, tagging, and squirting liquid paint through ketchup bottles. He doesn’t care much about the color he uses as long as it contrasts the last color. The man hears a voice calling out - red, violet, light blue, green. The voice is the man’s own voice. When the voice subsides the man is finished. Take the canvas walls down and put them up in a gallery. This is my art.

Wooster: What other talent would most like to have?

I wish I could sing. Well, I can sing. I guess I mean sing in tune.

Wooster: What do you fear the most?

Death.

Wooster: What is your greatest ambition?

I’d have to give you two, one I have no control over and one that I do have control over. I’d like to earn a living from my art or be a college painting professor. Although I’d love for both to come to fruition.

You can see more of Rene’s art here.